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Karst director touts Carlsbad in China visit

By Dr. George Veni

National Cave and Karst Research Institute

Posted:
06/22/2014 11:25:41 AM MDT

"Features of outstanding universal value."

That's the stiff requirement for consideration for the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites. There are only 21 world heritage sites in the U.S. New Mexico has the most with three: Chaco Canyon, Taos Pueblo, and our own Carlsbad Caverns.

It's sometimes easy to overlook how special your backyard really is. Reminders from out-of-town can help — especially if from the other side of the world.

The United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was organizing an international forum on world heritage sites. Since the meeting was being held in Shilin, China, site of the spectacular Stone Forest karst world heritage site, I was sent a plane ticket to go teach a seminar on karst management.

Carlsbad Caverns and Mammoth Cave national parks are the U.S.' two world heritage cave sites. With help from Park Service staff in both locations, I developed the seminar using those caves to showcase wonderful places to visit, but also as excellent management examples to follow.

My other reasons for going were to promote Carlsbad (Caverns and City), and where I work — the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI).

Before leaving town, I armed myself with a stack of handouts about the cave, town, and NCKRI. I'd see how many people I could convince to visit us.

Arriving in China

The first success of my advertising arsenal came through a t-shirt I wore. While sitting in the Beijing airport waiting for my next flight, a British woman saw "karst" and a bat on my shirt. She knew about both and started asking me questions.

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It turned out she had been working in China and Thailand for some time on bat biology and management. She appreciated getting my NCKRI card (the other handouts were in my luggage). I hoped this would be a good omen of more connections to come. It was.

I was met at the Kunming airport by my hosts but had to wait 30 minutes for other international experts to arrive for our bus ride to Shilin. The next person to show up was Ellis Richard. About 10 years ago Ellis retired as Superintendent of Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Meeting, teaching, connecting

Most folks in the US have never heard of world heritage status. Fewer really appreciate what it means. Internationally it is seen as a rare and incredible honor.

For locations like Carlsbad, "world heritage" says there is something globally important in our area. I attended this UNESCO meeting not just on behalf of NCKRI, but as an informal ambassador of Carlsbad.

Most communities use world heritage to promote tourism, which was the theme of this forum: Tourism Development and Rural Socio-Economic Prosperity at World Heritage Sites.

Carlsbad sees a lot of tourists who "collect" national parks. The same occurs with world heritage sites. China is especially interested in and knowledgeable about world heritage. Many of its world heritage sites are cave-related, and its people would certainly want to visit Carlsbad Caverns.

Unfortunately, there is no "World Heritage Club" or magazine where Carlsbad could advertise to connect to them and other world heritage collectors. There are a lot of them. I advise my friends at the Chamber of Commerce to find ways to reach them.

At least for my part, all of the handouts I brought quickly disappeared. There is interest in Carlsbad and karst!

There is also international interest in the U.S. National Park Service. It was frequently held up as the state-of-the-art in natural resource management by the forum's lecturers.

The forum relayed some great information on working with local communities to better manage world heritage sites and improve local economies. I served as a facilitator for a focus group on that topic.

Our field trip didn't go into the Stone Forest but the communities around it. My seminar caught quite a bit of interest, especially from the manager of Wulong, the newest karst world heritage site in China.

I emphasized that for tourist caves, entertainment is important but education must come first. People won't fully appreciate, support, and protect what they don't understand and see as valuable. In our case, it's important to know that the caves of the Guadalupes are the natural plumbing system for our city's main drinking water supply.

Karst above, karst below

My first trip to China was 21 years ago. I visited the Stone Forest then and was anxious to see it again. Limestone is in my blood, so this was of course the highlight of my trip. Karst is a landscape formed by the dissolving of the bedrock. Caves are typical features, and here in Carlsbad we have some of the best in the world. But in some areas, the most spectacular karst features are above the ground.

The Stone Forest is an amazing maze of jagged limestone spires rising more than 60 feet from the earth. It forms where the rock beds are very thick (like around Carlsbad), but also very fractured and covered with thick soil (unlike Carlsbad).

As water seeps down through the soil, it dissolves the fractures deeply. Later, the soil is washed away to leave behind the massive karst pinnacles.

When first exposed, the pinnacles' surfaces are rounded and smooth. With time, rainfall dissolves the rock in a different way, making razor-sharp edges and peaks.

Trails lead through much of the stone labyrinth. While in there I recalled what was said about Bryce Canyon by a rancher before it became a national park: "It's a helluva place to lose a cow!" The Stone Forest is even more baffling.

It you get an itch to travel somewhere to experience a different culture and a bizarrely beautiful landscape unlike anything you've ever seen, check out the Stone Forest. For more information, search online for "Shilin Stone Forest China" and you'll find plenty.

While you're there, encourage folks to come to Carlsbad and see one of the world's most spectacular underground karst landscapes in our world heritage site: Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

— Dr. George Veni is the Executive Director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, which is based in Carlsbad.